272 of 284 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Osho says "Yes" to life, August 12, 2001
I cannot say enough about this book. After reading merely 1/10th of it and practcing the techniques it is more than enough feel how amazing this book really is. Really, if you have come far enough to read a review, or even to look up this book, you should buy it. YOu must buy it unless you want to miss out. It is the next step.
Osho is the greatest spiritual teacher of our time. Tantra is the greatest wisdom of all of time. I had, before I read this book, a great split in the philosophy I was attracted to. On one hand I was entranced by things such as Buddhism and Taoism, things that are, to a degree ascetic, denying... they were clear, concise, purely rational systems of thought, I could not say no to something I knew to be steeped in both rational truth and experiental truth (insight& knowledge from my own experience). At the same time though I was blown away by Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre, western philosophers grouped as existentialists who seemed to advocate a life filled with passion. These two opposing systems, I realized, came from the same sort of outlook on the world, but were, in their practices, very very different. I could not reconcile the two.
I mention this split in my thinking because many of my friends have it as well, perhaps not with the same philosophers, but they have this split too. You too may have it. It is the split between this world and a transcendental realm. Between having Nirvana and having a nice t-shirt. Between having bliss and having a family. It seems, hitherto, one has been unable to have both.
Osho lets you have both. He says you already have this world. But instead of denying this world Osho teaches you to use this world as a sort of catapult, a ladder, to get to higher states of awareness. Here is an example: When you get angry, he says, do not supress your anger because it created more anger; instead, he says become fully angry and then become aware of your anger, and then anger will have no power over you. He says the same of all emotions. He has meditative techniques for all sorts of personalities. This is how he says "yes" to life. Osho teaches that ALL situations, ALL emotions, everything, really, can be used as a tool to teach you, to help you increase awareness.
Lastly, Osho does not discriminate between religious traditions. Our world is one of splits between different religions, not one of love, it is a world where in areas like the middle-east people are killed for believing in this god or not believing in that one; where at places like my workplace a manager of mine told me I was going to Hell for practicing tantra & meditation and not following christ as the one & only savior; a world where a certain president elected in they year 2000 discriminately gives money to faith-based organizations... in this world the splits between religious faiths becomes hazardous. Osho speaks from his own knowledge and wisdom and love but uses at the same time, like any great teacher, ALL faiths, ALL beliefs, and ALL religious figures as examples, as illustrations, as ways to elaborate his point. Unifying divergent beliefs is really a great feat, and osho does it magnificently.
Really, after coming this far you ought to buy the book. Osho teaches how to say "yes" to life and enjoy it to its fullest. If you don't buy it Osho and I will come to your house and beat you up. That was a joke. I forgot to mention Osho has an awesome sense of humor. He tells you to laugh.
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56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shows how to transform sex-consc.into super-consciousness., April 30, 1998
The book, one of the ancient texts on Tantra, contains a masterful commentary on 112 techniques of meditation by the enlightened mystic, Osho. He brings into focus the central point that, such as the physical science shows techniques to transform matter, Tantra shows techniques to transform the spirit. Tantra, as Osho explains, does not condemn sex, nor does it ask to indulge into it. Tantra merely shows ways to raise sex energy for experiencing the higher states of consciousness.
The book is perhaps the first in acknowledging a woman's status as an independent inquirer. Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva, asks him some of the most quintessential questions for unraveling the secrets of how meditation can bring about a complete mutation in human consciousness. Sex being the strongest desire there is, Shiva explains how the way of Tantra helps in understanding this desire and transcending it. Osho's insight is: "Tantra says, be aware of the desire; do not create any fight. Move into desire with full consciousness, and when you move into desire with full consciousness you transcend it."
Osho has provided an in-depth understanding of the differences between sex and Tantra, Tantra and Yoga, the views about sex in the East and the West, male and female polarity and how both can become mutually nourishing.
The core message of this incredible text on meditation is that, sex is essentially a mystery, it is a creative energy manifested in the entire universe. Tantra is helpful in the understanding of this energy and showing how to live a healthy and natural life with love and awareness. Osho's observation is: "...the days of tantra are coming. Sooner or later tantra will explode for the first time in the masses, because for the first time the time is ripe -- ripe to take sex naturally. It is possible that the explosion may come from the West, because Freud, Jung, Reich they have prepared the background. They did not know anything about tantra, but they have made the basic !ground for tantra to evolve."
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